Bullet points - .com over the .net

[MikeHu]

Hey guys,
We are lucky enough to be approached by super rich company (XX-XXX billion $ company) who wants to buy our .com where we are running small business. Obviously, we are not willing to sell it cheaply after spending 15years working on it. Their interest is only .com not our business... and here is the problem/question... they are really want to buy it but they are not willing to pay 7 figures saying they can spend the money on SEO for their existing .net / .org etc.

So, what would be your arguments... simple bullet points of why .com is better and worth the money?
(I know there is Google, I just like to talk to you about it.

Other question is, we all know how the news about "big TLDs sales" spread around the world... do you know any study about how much interest such a news could bring to the company?

Any other ideas would be very much appreciate it.

Thanks a lot

 

[Kate]

First of all, are you sure it's not the appraisal scam ? If the email comes from a rich 'investor' with a big budget => send to trash.
Scammers also impersonate well known companies so beware.
Big companies tend to make acquisitions anonymously, precisely because they do not want the asking price to be based on their balance sheets.

 

[MikeHu]

Hi @Kate,
thanks for the reply.
Absolutely sure. The true is that they tried to used Flippa for a while and we refused to do the business trough broker. After that, they tried some freelance broker to deal with us, but we responded in the same way and for last year or so we are dealing with them directly... we already met in their HQ.
Thanks

 

[JayT]

They obviously know the .com is better than the .net and probably won't appreciate being strung around for a lesson. You've been to their HQ and everything so why are you still trying to sell it to them? Just negotiate a price already if you want to sell. If you're sure you can sell it just make a new domain for your site and start forwarding the one you're selling to the new one with some kind of notice at the top that you are switching address.

 

[Kate]

Great But I don't think you should try to convince them at all costs. If they are contacting you, they are already interested. Apparently they are still trying to approach you even though you have declined their previous advances (if I'm reading this right). So that means they are really interested and don't really any have other options on the table right now.

The only issue is price: if your asking price is too high, then they will either buy another domain or none at all. Or they will just wait.

You say you are currently using the domain name, if you sell it this will obviously have an impact. You need to put a figure on that possible loss in terms of migrating to another domain, rebranding, SEO, missed sales etc. They will understand that. I have refused an offer on a domain name that I am using, because the offer does not compensate for the hassle of migrating to another domain.

On the other hand, if your small business is what pays the bill, then I completely understand you are reluctant to jeopardize it. They need to pay the price. Seven figures is certainly a life-changing amount, but maybe you could retire on 6 figures. I guess there has to be some room for negotiation. While I understand your reluctance, you are possibly in a privileged position we all dream of If you can get a big check in the process at the cost of some life adjustement, I would still consider it.

That being said, my pitch would be along these lines: companies are spending huge money on offline/online advertising. Whereas a domain name costs only $10 to renew and it is a permanent business card that is yours forever if you wish. If you have a good domain name that is memorable, easy to spell and remember, you can use it to advertise on TV and radio (and also in print).

With SEO you can of course rank a shitty domain well, for example a hyphenated .net, domain but this won't cut it for nationwide TV advertising where exposure time is very short. Then you need a potent, memorable domain that will make an instant impression.
Rather than spend money to promote a poor domain/brand, spend money on a strong domain that will promote your business - not the other way round

 

[MikeHu]

WOW, what an amazing reply @Kate ! I owe you a drink!
It makes great sense, I totally agree on all what you have said... but I needed to hear it from some professionals like yourself and it gives me fresh confidence! THANK YOU!
We are in very strong position... They already use our name all around the world on much longer domain name... for example ... we have Mike.com and they have MikeXXX.com and they call their products Mike and have over 150 mill customers... so, we are not afraid of them changing the name to anything else.

Thanks a lot! I'll keep you updated and if I sell it I tell you the whole story if you wish.
Have a great weekend

 

[MikeHu]

Thanks @JayT
The reason we are not selling is the price. Yes, xxx.xxx sounds great, but we get traffic worth xx.xxx on monthly basis thanks to our SEO and age of the business. So, we wouldn't sell for xxx.xxx.
+ They are in top 100 richest companies in the world spending billions in investments every year.
We don't want to sound greedy, there is simply too much hard work in it for us and the xxx.xxx would simply not change anything.

 

[JayT]

Thanks @JayT
The reason we are not selling is the price. Yes, xxx.xxx sounds great, but we get traffic worth xx.xxx on monthly basis thanks to our SEO and age of the business. So, we wouldn't sell for xxx.xxx.
+ They are in top 100 richest companies in the world spending billions in investments every year.
We don't want to sound greedy, there is simply too much hard work in it for us and the xxx.xxx would simply not change anything.

Yea well like i said negotiate.

 

[MikeHu]

We are my friend @JayT